


Blind Date

by ready_to_kick_some_ass



Series: MCU Kink Bingo 2019 [2]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Blind Date, F/M, First Kiss, First Meetings, Fluff, MCU Kink Bingo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-24
Updated: 2019-01-24
Packaged: 2019-10-15 17:39:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17533250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ready_to_kick_some_ass/pseuds/ready_to_kick_some_ass
Summary: Hunter organises Fitz a blind date. Fitz doesn't think that's a good idea. But when he finally meets his date, he quickly changes his mind.





	Blind Date

It’s a warm summer afternoon and Fitz feels horribly out of place.

He nervously picks at the hem of his light blue shirt and looks around in the small café Hunter left him in, after telling him “Good luck” and patting his shoulder, a broad grin on his face.

Now Fitz is alone, waiting for his mysterious blind date, calling himself an idiot and fighting against the waves of nausea that are threatening to overwhelm him.

He should never have agreed to this nightmare.

A blind date calls for all the things Fitz is bad in. Communicating with strangers smoothly. Being spontaneous. Avoiding rambling about his special interests for like three hours straight. He’s going to make an utter fool out of himself.

Damn his flatmate Lance Hunter and his stupid ideas … Fitz hasn’t had a date for what Hunter considers as ages.

Hunter himself invites women home almost every weekend – weekends which Fitz uses to spend at university or the library as long as possible. Eventually, Hunter decided to do something about Fitz’s non-existing love life. After he had unsuccessfully tried to hook Fitz up with someone in a bar, he suggested something entirely else. A blind date.

Fitz reacted to this absurd idea with a disbeliving bitter snort.

Blind dates. That wasn’t him. Not at all.

But his friend said, “Trust me. This is going to work,", his eyes sparkling in familiar mischief.

And after being pestered for two weeks, Fitz relucantly agreed.

Only to regret it now.

   
Fitz sighs and scratches the back of his head nervously.

The quiet melody of a slow ballade is floating through the small café now. Together with the combined sweet smell of tea and pancakes.

Fitz is almost alone.

There are just two couples, sitting in the corners, holding hands and whispering to each other. When Fitz looks at them, he actually feels lonely. It would be nice, to have someone to do things with together. Someone, who would accept him the way he is, and who wouldn’t tell him to talk less about science, less about monkeys, less about his plans about traveling to space sometime.  
But well. His attempts at finding someone just like this, has never ended well. Why should it be any different now. With a _blind date_.

The door opens suddenly and Fitz startles so violently that he bumps his knee against the underside of the table and almost knocks over the candle standing on it. He curses quietly and rubs his aching knee, while continuing to pick at his shirt. He carefully glances at the entrance and sighs relieved.

It’s definitely not his date.  

It’s an elderly woman with a tiny white chihuahua dog glancing out of her pink purse.  

False alarm.

Fitz slumps again.

His thoughts wander off to his studies. Exams are soon to begin. And actually he thinks he doesn’t even have time for a date, and certainly not for a relationship … Not that he thinks it will come to that. Most likely, this whole thing will be awkward, but a one-time disaster which he can forget later, with the help of some pizza and alone time.

He could still leave.

The person who was told to meet him here by Hunter, doesn't know him. Doesn’t know his face or name. Sure, she would be disappointed, and just leaving certainly is a rude thing to do, but bloody hell, he can’t do this …

His frantic thought process is interrupted abruptly, when the door opens a second time.

And this time, a young woman enters the café, looking around.

Fitz gulps.

If she’s his date, this is going to be even more embarrassing than he’d previously thought. And now he can’t leave. His escape route is cut off.

The young woman is beautiful. In the dim café she shines bright like the sun itself. It’s like she brought the summer into the room. Her brown hair falls smoothly over her shoulders and she pushes it back absently, while her eyes wander through the café searchingly. She’s wearing a shirt and jeans and he realizes that their colours are matching. His shirt light blue, hers blue with white stripes.

He stares at her transfixed and his throat feels dry.

The next moment the woman’s wandering eyes fall on Fitz and he feels his heart dropping into his stomach.

A timid smile appears on her face and she slowly approaches his table.

“Excuse me,” she says, wiping a strand of hair out of her face. “Are you … Fitz?”

Fitz swallows. Under the table, he presses his sweaty hands on his legs firmly. “Yeah. Yeah, that’s me. Uh. And you’re …”

“Jemma Simmons,” she says, smiling.

 _Jemma_. Even her name is like a diamond. Smooth and bright.

“Hi,” Fitz says, and it sounds so lame, he wants to bang his head on the table.

But for some reason, her smile grows wider and she says, “Hi back to you.”

For a moment, they’re just looking at each other. It’s like the world around them doesn’t exist. Like they’re in their own bubble and everything else is far away.

When a server asks them, if they would like something to drink, the spell breaks and Fitz jumps up, to push the chair back for Jemma.

She chuckles and sits down. “Thank you.”

“What would you like to drink?” Fitz asks her. At least, he thinks relieved, he can still form complete coherent sentences.

Jemma chooses green tea and he orders it together with a fruit tea for himself.

When their drinks have arrived, there’s another moment of silence between them. It doesn’t feel as awkward as it could have felt, Fitz thinks.

Finally, Jemma clears her throat and says, “Well. I’m new to this whole blind date thing. I hope I’m doing it right.”

“I’ve never did it before either,” Fitz says.

She seems relived. “Great. Um. Maybe we should just introduce ourselves more? I’ll start if it’s alright for you?”

“Sure,” he says hoarsely, sipping his tea and flinching back when he notices it’s still way too hot.

Jemma smiles. “Well. You already do know my name. I’m 24 and I’m studying bio-chemistry. I love working in the lab. I also love all kinds of animals and tv-shows. And I’m not an early riser! I did this date thing because of Lance,” she wrinkles her nose a bit when she says Hunter’s name.  
“He dated one of my lab colleagues. He’s an idiot,” she says dryly. “But when he suggested this blind date … I thought why not. He said you aren’t like the others.” She sighs. “I mean … the boys at university are trying their best, but they’re all so dull, you know? I’m sure I sound like a horrible person for saying this … But it’s the truth. I dated this one guy … Milton. He said he would love to marry me one day. He also said he can’t wait until he’s working, earning an ridiculous amount of money, and comes home everyday to a warm meal, prepared by his loving wife, who also takes care of the whole household and the rich guests, when they come to visit … ugh.”

Jemma talks a bit more. About how much she enjoys her studies and that she wants to achieve something great sometime. Something, that helps people. Fitz quickly realizes, that she's a genius. And he would gladly watch her accepting her Nobel Prize, if only he could be the one, who takes her in his arms to congrat her ...

Eventually Jemma stops talking, looking at him a bit worried. Fitz watches as she takes a sip of her tea and then looks at him somewhat apologizingly.   “I’m sorry,” she says. “I shouldn’t be talking about myself all the time. Please … do tell me something about yourself."

Fitz thinks, he would be great with listening to her forever. Why would she want to know things about him. He must be the least interesting person on this planet. Especially beside her.

But now Jemma is looking at him curiously, and he doesn’t quite know what to say, feeling taken by surprise. (Yeah. Being spontanous. One of the three things he's really bad in ...)

He’s grateful, when Jemma asks him a question, that seemed to have busied her mind for a while. “Excuse me, I don’t mean to sound rude, but … is Fitz your real name?”

“Oh. No. Actually my full name is Leopold James Fitz,” he says, shrugging. “But I go with Fitz for quite a while now.”

Jemma doesn’t urge him to tell the reason for it. She just nods and continues to eye him curiously. So Fitz takes a deep breath and hesitantly starts to talk about himself. He tells her that he’s studying Engineering and that he’s not an early riser either. When he notices, that Jemma is showing true interest in everything he’s saying, he quickly loses his nervousness and the talking gets a lot easier. Smoother.

They discover a lot of interests they’re sharing.

They both like Doctor Who. And when he says monkeys are his favourite animals, she agrees that they are fascinating, and says that she would love to listen to him sharing all the facts he knows about them.

They laugh together and it all feels light and simple.

It feels like they’ve known each other forever.

 

Time passes quickly and eventually, Jemma tells him with a hint of sadness in her voice, that she has to go.

  
She looks at him seriously. “I enjoyed talking to you Fitz. And I think I really would like to see you again.”

“Oh. Really?” Fitz asks surprised, but happy.

She smiles. “Really. Maybe you could give me your number?”

“Oh. Sure.” He scribbles his mobile number on the backside of the check and hands it to her.

She beams at him. “Thank you. This was a pleasant experience.”

“Yeah. I … I think so too.”

They smile at each other. Warm and promising.

“Goodbye, Fitz,” she says quietly.

“Goodbye Jemma.”

When she gets up, she touches the back of Fitz’s right hand with her fingers. It’s only volatile. But if feels like a painless electric shock.

Fitz watches Jemma leaving, feeling like he should get up and go after her for some reason. So he does exactly this.

When he exits the café, Jemma is already walking down the street, with slow steps.

“Jemma!” He calls out.

She stops, slowly turning around to face her. Her hair floats in the wind and a smile spreads on her face. She stands still, while Fitz walks towards her with quick steps. He stops in front of her, and they lock eyes.

“Yes Fitz?” She asks softly.

He opens his mouth. But there are no words for what he’s feeling. So he acts instead. He crosses the distance between them and kisses her gently. She makes a surprised noise, but she doesn’t flinch back. Instead, she kisses him back just as gently. Her lips are soft and warm. They taste faintly of jasmine and lemon.

When they part, they're both flushed.

Fitz realizes what he just did and with reality, the thoughts come back. Is it considered to be rude to kiss someone right after a blind date?, He wonders. But it just felt like the right thing to do …

He opens his mouth to apologize, but she talks first.

“That was pleasant too.”

“It was?” Fitz asks, nervously, licking his lips. Oh. They’re a bit dry. Hopefully it didn’t bother her.

“Yes,” she says quietly. “I liked that. I like you.”

Fitz’s heart jumps again. Feels like it’s riding a rollercoaster.

“I like you too,” he breathes.

She smiles at him. “I have to go now. Because otherwise I’m going to be late. For a project. But … I’m going to write you. I really want to see you again. Soon.”

“I want to see you again, too,” he echoes and hopes he doesn’t sound too much like a parrot.

“Bye, Fitz,” Jemma says again. And she hugs him.

That feels nice.

Fitz wraps her arms around her and breathes in her smell. Her warmth is all around him.

They part way too quickly. She smiles at him one last time and turns around.

He watches her until she disappears behind a corner.

 

Fitz takes the bus home and everything around him is a blur, drowned out by the flood of new memories in his head. Memories of Jemma.

He doesn’t know how it’s possible to be so drawn to someone that quickly. He already misses her.

  
*

When Fitz comes home, Hunter is already waiting for him, leaning in the doorframe o his room, grinning.

“And?” He asks, bouncing on his heels. “How did it go?”

Fitz shrugs. “Good, I guess. She wanted to have my number.”

Hunter whistles.

“And,” Fitz adds, smiling faintly. “I kissed her.”

Hunter’s eyes widen. His mouth drops open. “You did?”

“I did.”

“Wow wow. From now on I’m going to call you the Casanova of the nerds!” Hunter cheers and Fitz rolls his eyes. But he smiles at Hunter and says, “Thank you for arranging that. I wasn’t sure at first, but now I’m glad we did this. Very glad.”

“You’re welcome, mate. But,” Hunter says, winking at him. “Don’t get caught in the lab, you two."

“We’ve just met! And it’s not all about sex, Hunter,” Fitz says, sighing, and goes into his room. But his heart is thumbing wild in his chest and his face glows. The thought of having sex with Jemma is … It’s overwhelming.

He pushes that away and concentrates on the things that did already happen.

It's a lot.

A whole book of pictures and words.

*

When Fitz is laying in his bed, not yet able to sleep, because of all the new memories in his head, he hears his phone beeping.

Curiously, he reaches for it, looking at the screen. His eyes widen in surprise, when he reads the message.

 

 **Hey** **😊** **  
It’s Jemma.**

  
Fitz swallows. She’s writing him. _Now_. He types back quickly.

 _Hey._  
_What are you doing?_

**  
Thinking about you.**

  
Fitz exhales slowly. He can’t believe it. He pinches himself curtly, just in case this is only a wonderful dream. But he doesn’t wake up. Fortunately.

  
_I'm thinking about you too_ , he types, feeling his face getting warmer. And after a nervous moment of hesitation he adds: _When can I see you again?_

  
It needs a while until Jemma answers and Fitz waits nervously, biting his lip.

 **  
Tomorrow?** She finally writes and Fitz’s heart jumps. Tomorrow. She wants to see him tomorrow already.

 **We could meet at university? Have lunch and talk. And learn for exams. Maybe?**  
 

 _Sounds great_ , he types quickly.

  
**Then see you tomorrow, Fitz.**  
**Goodnight.**

_  
Goodnight, Jemma._

 

Fitz puts his phone away, feeling light with excited happiness.

She likes him.

She has just met him, and she likes him. She doesn’t think he’s a freak or nerd or an idiot. She wants to spend time with him. Listen to him. Laugh with him.

This may very well be the best day of his life.

Fitz smiles and closes his eyes. He falls asleep to the images of Jemma’s smiling face, her sparkling eyes and her lips. Jasmine and lemon on a bright summer day.

**Author's Note:**

> My bingo card: [MCU Kink Bingo Card](http://ready-to-kick-some-ass.tumblr.com/post/182145222462/my-mcu-kink-bingo-card-arrived-yay-im-doing)
> 
> I'm not a native speaker and always grateful for being corrected! I'm constantly trying to improve my English, so please don't hesitate to tell me about mistakes. <3
> 
> Visit me on tumblr: [ready-to-kick-some-ass](https://ready-to-kick-some-ass.tumblr.com/) :)


End file.
